Mail-marking machine.



No. 845,911. PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

H. E. WAITE.

MAIL MARKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION PILED'APB..2,1906.

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No.84'5,911. f PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907,

H. E. WAIIE.

MAIL MARKING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED APR. 2, 1906.

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MAIL MARKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR.2,1906.

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Wnesses: 9 jve/fi?) 7".- v 4 I PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY E. WAITE, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MAIL-MARKING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 5, 1907.

Application file April 2, 1906. Serial No. 309,313.

celing the stamps and impressing postmarks upon letters, so that a clear and distinct impression may be made.

The ob 'ect is particularly to provide an inexpensive machine which may be operated by hand and is adapted for use in small oflices where only limited amounts of mail- I matter are handled. Ordinarily the smaller classes of post-offices are equipped only with hand-stamps for marking the mail-matter, and it is a matter of common knowledge that it is the exception rather than the rule to obtain a clear and accurate impression when the marking is done in this manner. Ordinarily only a part of the postmark shows clearly, so that it is hardly ever possible to determine both the place from where the letter is sent and the date on which it was mailed.

The present machine is designed so that it i can be made for a small enough cost to permit its use where the more expensive machines for handling large quantities of mail would not be justifiable. It is constructed, however, to engage and feed letters mechanically and mark them so that the impression will be exactly as clear and complete as that made by the larger machines. Therefore the machine is equipped with a rotary marking member having a printing-die and an impression member which cooperates with the die to grip the letters and feed them, holding them up against the die so that they will receive the pressure of the latter squarely, so that a distinct impression may be made. The machine further has a fixed timing-stop to hold the letters in position to be engaged by the impression member and a rotaryfeeding-table movable with the marking member to feed and hold letters up to the stop. The impression member also carries amember which serves both as a traveling guide for the letters and also as a packer to force let ters which have been marked up against the pack of previously-marked letters to leave room so that subsequent letters may be 5 alined with the pack.

specification, Fi ure 1 represents a plan view of a machine embodying the principles of the present invention. Fig. 2 represents a front elevation of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 represent plan views showing different positions of the printing-couple. Fig. 5 represents a horizontal section on line 5 5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the arm having the impression-surface. Fig. 7 is a detail view of the packing member. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the marking member having the printingdie.

The same reference characters designate the same parts in all the figures.

This machine, as well as the machines illustrated in prior patents granted to me, consists, essentially, of a marking member 1 and an impression member 2, constituting a printing-couple. The impression member consists of a wheel pivoted upon a stud 3 and having on its periphery gear-teeth 4, which mesh with a gear 5, connected to the marking member 1, the ratio of the gears being such that the marking member is caused to rotate a number of times while the impression member rotates once. The latter member carries a handle 6, by which it may be rotated manually. The impression member carries a curved arm 7, pivoted upon a stud 8 and having its end curved-upon the arc of the circle forming a segmental surface 9, which constitutes the impression-surface of the printing-couple. The forward end of the impressionsurface is formed with a comparatively abrupt corner, which makes a grippingshoulder 10, which is adapted to engage a letter, carry it forward to the marking member, and cooperate with the marking member in gripping the letter to feed it through the couple. The end of the arm 7 on the other side of the pivot from the impressionsurface has an eye 1.1, to which is connected a spring 12, having its other end attached to a lug 13, affixed to the hub of the impression member 2. The spring 12 tends to throw the impression-surface 9 outwardly and enables the latter to form a yielding backing for the letters while they are marked.

The marking member 1 is pivoted to turn upon a stud 14 and is formed with a shoulder 15, constituting a cooperating gripper. This shoulder is so located and the gears are so engaged that said shoulder and shoulder 10 cross the line between studs 3 and 14 at the same instant, so that they are in condition to grasp between them a letter.

Fastened to the printing member is an annular plate or flange 16, which rotates when the marking member rotates and is adapted to support letters which are dropped upon it one by one. Beside the rim of the plate 16 are fixed members 17 18, adapted to guide letters which form between themselves and the marking member a letter-path. The frame of the machine projects over the printing member and forms a stationary table 19, having an inclined back 20, upon which a pack of letters to be marked is laid. The operator while grasping the handle 6 and rotating the impression member toward the left with his right hand takes letters one by one in his left hand and drops them between the guide 17 and the marking member. The letters therefore fall upon the rotating table 16 and are carried by the latter until they abut against the edge 21 of the letter-guide 18, being then in the position shown at a in Fig. 3.

The edge 21 of the fixed guide is located at an angle to the forward edge 22 of said guide and extends almost directly across the letterpath formed by the post 17 and edge 22. It therefore forms an angle in the path and provides an abutment against which the forward edges of letters are brought and by which they are arrested. It is located within the circumference of which the impression-sun face 9 is a segment, so that when a letter is engaged with it the forward edge of the letter lies in the path of the gripping-shoulder 10. Accordingly when the shoulder strikes the letter it moves the forward edge of the letter along toward the printing member 1, the edge 21 being substantially tangent to the path of movement, so as to permit this action. As soon as the shoulder reaches the line of centers of 3 and 14 the cooperating shoulder engages the letter on the opposite side with a firm grip, whereby it is positively carried along and impressed by the canceling-lines and the die 23 until it is finally deposited in the position b, Fig. 3, in the space 24, which receives the pack 0 of postmarked letters. The part of the marking member in advance of the shoulder 15 is cut away, so that the marker will not come into contact with the impression member or letter until the edge of the letter has been moved slightly past the shoulder, as may be seen in Fig. 4. There is no tight engagement between the members of the couple to form a narrow throat into which the letters must be forced and which tends to retard the letters. On the contrary, the letters are perfectly timed and are gripped strongly at exactly the right point to be drawn forward. The letter (Z shows the letter after it has been gripped. As soon as it has been moved enough, so that its rear end clears the post 17, it slips into the dotted-line position 6, wherein it projects through the space between the guides 17 and 18. This space is provided so as to minimize the amount of bending necessary to carry the letter through the printing-couple. If it were not provided, the whole letter would be bent, but having the space requires only the forward end to be subjected to bending.

The impression-arm 7 has a lug 25, through which is passed a pivot 26 for a lever 27. The latter has a curved arm 28 and a straight arm 29, to which is connected a spring 30, tending to throw the curved arm out beyond the circumference and path of movement of the impression-surface 9. The outward throw of arm 28 is limited by a stop 31, carried by the arm 7, against which arm 29 abuts and is held by spring 30. The normal position of all the parts is shown at Fig. 1.

Connected to the fixed guide member 18 is a flange having a surface 32, which is separated from the surface 21, forming the letterstop, by a distance equal only to the thickness of the plates forming the surfaces 21 and 32, respectively. The surface 32 lies in the path of the arm 28 and retracts it as long as it remains in engagement with such surface. The upper edge of arm 28 being immediately in front of the gripping-shoulder 10, after passing the stop 21 it acts as a traveling guide to deflect the rear end of letters that have been marked out of the path of the let ter passing through the printing-couple.

It will be noted from Figs. 2 and 5 that the surfaces 21 and 32 are formed by plates which extend downward from the guide member 18 and that the surface 32 lies in the path of movement of the arm 28. Therefore when the impression member is rotated and when the arm 28 comes adjacent the surface 32 its free end is retarded and held back until it has passed by the end of the clownwardly-extending plate. As the free end of the member 28 is the rearmost portion thereof, the said arm is carried entirely beyond the end of the restraining-plate before it flies outward. Therefore when a portion of this arm extends beyond the flange or plate it is nearly in line with the surface 21 and constitutes, in effect, a continuation of this surface. After the arm 28 has passed by stop 32 it is projected outwardly by the spring and strikes the letter t, which was last acted upon by the printingcouple, throwing it against the pack 0 and leaving a space between it and the guide-rail 34, so that the following letter (1 may enter in such space so formed. The member 27 thereby acts as a packer to crowd letters one by one as fast as they are carried through the printing-couple against the marked pack and to keep the pack far enough away from the rail 34 to allow subsequent letters to be fed to it. Otherwise the letters would become crowded between the rail 34 and the block 35, which supports the face of the pack.

The rotary feeding-plate 16 extends across one end of the space 24, which receives the marked letters, and the rear ends of these letters, therefore, rest upon the plate even after they have been brought into the space, as is shown in Fig. 3. Thus the plate is enabled to swing the rear end of each letter around and crowd it against the packof alreadymarked letters. In special cases the packer may be omitted altogether and the rotary table relied upon entirely for packing to gether the marked letters.

36 represents an inking-roll carriedupon a holder 37 and pressed by a spring 38 so as to supply ink to the marker 1, and 39 is a plate secured to the table 19, projecting over in front of the marking member to protect letters from a too early contact with the marker.

The machine above described can be manipulated so as to mark letters more rapidly.

than they can be marked with the ordinary hand-stamps, and particularly will hold the letters squarely up against the marking-die, so that all parts of the stamp will be impressed and a legible imprint ofthe postmark will be made. I consider the fixed stop 21 and rotary feeding-table to be of great importance in accurately positioning the work so that letters may be placed in quick succession as well as accurately.

I claim 1. A mail marking device, comprising marking and impression members forming a printingcouple, a timing-stop substantially tangential to the impression member, and feeding means movable with the marking member to bring a letter perpendicularly toward the impressionmember and frictionally hold it against said stop.

2. A mail-marking device, comprising marking and impression members forming a printing-couple, a timingstop, and a feedingsupport adapted to have mail-matter deposited thereon and movable with the marking member to feed such matter to said stop, said feeding-support being adapted also to pack together letters which have been passed through the printing-couple.

3. A mail-marking device, comprising marking and impression members forming a printing-couple, a stationary timing-stop, and a rotary feeding-table arranged to sup- 1 port mail-matter deposited thereon and movable simultaneously with the marking member to feed the mail-matter up to said stop.

4. A mail-marking device, comprising marking and impression members forming a printing-couple, a timing-stop, and a horizontal annular plate or flange connectedto the marking member to turn therewith, adapted to support mail-matter deposited thereon, and constituting a feeding-table for carrying the mail-matter to the timing-stop.

5. In a mail-marking machine, a rotary formed with an angular recess, forming a V timing-stop.

7. In a mail-marking machine, a rotary marking member, fixed guides forming a letter-channel around the marking member, having an angular recess, a rotary feedingtable forming the movable bottom of the let ter-channel below the operating-surface of the marking member, and an impression member, and the impression member having an operating-surface traveling through the angular recess in the fixed guides.

8. A mail -marking device, comprising marking and impression members forming a printing-couple, a guide for letters to be marked having a stop to arrest the forward edge of a letter within the path of movement of the impression member, and an abutment on the impression member adapted to engage a letter arrested by said stop and swing the same into contact with the marking member.

9. A mail-marking machine comprising a printing member, an impression member having an impression-surface and a feeding and gripping shoulder, and a fixed stop adapted to arrest the forward edge of a letter within the path of movement of said shoulder; said stop extending substantially parallel with said path of movement, whereby the shoulder is adapted to deflect and swing the letter to the printing member.

10. A mail-marking machine comprising a printing member, an impression member having an impression-surface and a feeding and gripping shoulder, a fixed stop adapted to arrest the forward edge of a letter within the path of movement of said shoulder; said stop extending substantially parallel with said path of movement, whereby the shoulder is adapted to deflect and carry the letter to the printing member, and a traveling guide moving with the impression member in advance of said shoulder.

11. In a mail-marking machine having rotary marking and impression members to constitute a printing-couple, a fixed stop adjacent the impression member adapted to arrest and retain a letter with its forward end lying in the path of the impression member, and a feeding device supporting the letter by its lower edge and presenting a light friction for retaining the letters against the timing- III.

stop, the impression member being arranged to deflect the letter against the printing member and then to cooperate .with said printing member in gripping and carrying the letter through the printing-couple.

12. In a mail-marking machine, an impression member having an impression-surface, and a packer mounted on and carried by the impression member, adapted to be projected beyond the path of movement of the impression-surface to move away therefrom letters which have been marked.

13. In a mail-marking machine, an impression member having an impression-surface, and a guiding and packing member carried by the-impression member adapted to be held in substantial coincidence with the path of movement of the latter before engagement of a letter to be marked, and provisions for outwardly projecting said guiding and packing member to crowd previously-marked letters away from the impression member.

14. A mail-marking machine comprising a marking member, animpression member having an impression-surface, a packer carried by the impression member, means tending to project the same beyond the line of the impression member,, and fixed means for restraining the packer until it has passed the marking member, whereby said packer is caused to act as a traveling guide for letters to be marked.

15. A mail-marking machine comprising a marking member, an impression member having an impression-surface, for engaging and holding letters against the marking member, fixed guides forming a letter-path between themselves and the marking member and being out of line to form an angle in such path located so as to arrest a letter with its edge in the way of said impression member, to be engaged thereby, and a traveling guide carrled by the impression member adapted to form a the latter, a spring tending to project the packer beyond the circumference of the inipression-surface, and a stationary retainingabutment adjacent the marking member, arranged to retract and hold the packer within the continuation of the impression-surface while the packer is passing the marking member, and to permit outward movement of the packer to push away letters that have been marked.

17. In a mail-marking machine, printing and impression members constituting a printing-couple, a rotary table traveling with the printing member adapted to feed forward letters placed thereon, a stop arranged parallel to the path of movement of the impression member for arresting letters, the impression member being arranged to engage the projecting end of a letter, move it toward and hold it against the printing member and discharge the letter, and the rotary feedingtable being adapted to carry the rear end of the discharged letter against a pack of previously-marked letters.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY E. WAITE.

Witnesses:

A. C. RATIGAN, H. L. RoBBINs. 

